On Politics….

Standard

I don’t consider myself to be particularly political. I’m not apathetic, but I’m not about to donate time or money to anyone’s campaign.

As a black woman from the D.C. area, it comes as no surprise (statistically speaking) that I tend towards democratic candidates. But I overall consider myself a moderate, it’s about the person, not the party. Furthermore, I’m not really into polic sci, as a discipline, not that I can’t wrap my head around central points, but the nuances of political strategy, theory and the models based on them (and how to analyze and predict them, are not things in which I am well versed).

As I argued with a friend last night over this, I reflected on how conflicted and excited these primaries make me feel. Maybe this is waaaaaaaaay late, but whatever, I needed time to ponder how I thought felt about it all.

So here is what I think:

My math teacher in high school was an avowed democrat, but he was registered Republican, so that he could vote in their primaries. Pretty good idea I think. sometimes people are so caught up in what their individual party is up to, that they don’t stop to consider the prospect of losing and what they would do if the oppossing party’s candidate was just disdainful (as many people feel about the current administration… I wonder if it would have made a difference if more democrats registered Republican and influenced their primaries that way… oh well).

Maybe McCain would have been President for the last 8 years and the world would presumably be a better place. or not at any rate, I am happy that it seems like he will the party nomination ( a part of me is just the mommmy type, and think it would be sad to have yet another “always the bridesmaid” story). Besides, I lived in MA for 8 months out of the year, as an undergraduate while Romney was Governor, not all too impressed.

as for Barack Obama- no, he’s not a saint, and no he doesn’t have as much experience as others do, but I like the fact that his life is in many ways an open book (or rather two books). and of course, I’m not ashamed to admit, “I’ve got a crush on Obama,” not because he’s cute or handsome or whatever, but there just seems to be something simple and honest about him. Tangentially, he’s a black man, married to a black woman (that’s not something you see everyday….lol… so I’ve got to give him his props for that…lol).

and there’s Hillary (or Billary as she has been not so affectionately termed). Up until two or so weeks ago, I felt torn between her and Barack Obama. ( the first black person versus the first woman, oh, the prospect still makes me feel like a kid in the candy store ;-). And on top of her being a woman, is my affinity/affiliation for/with her as a Wellesley alum (it would further increase her alma mater’s caché and I can not be mad at that… hooray for women’s colleges… my friends need jobs!…lol).

But here is the stitch. Hillary is a strong woman, a smart woman, a capable woman. So why in the heck is her husband running around talking smack?!? I admit that being in the U.K, I’m not necessarily in the mix of things the way I would be if I were home. But listening and reading different articles like this one and this one or this one has made me realize just how much of a spin doctor politicians (specifically a certain former president) can really be and its appalling. Yes, sometimes you have to wrestle with dogs in politics, but at the same time you should mind how many ticks and fleas you come away with after the fight. This is the point I think He forgot 😦

All this rambling is to say that at this point, for me and for many others, this race is about “How you run your campaign” as much as anything else. Are you going to come up smelling like daisies? or looking like a manipulator? And in the midst of it all , I wonder, where is she? is she really supportive of the comments he’s making? if not then why doesn’t she “reign him in” (for lack of a better term).

This is what I mean when I say Obama’s run a relatively clean campaign. It’s hard, but I feel like he is actually trying to stay above the fray and I appreciate that.

At the end of the day, I think either would do a good job as Commander in Chief if given the chance.
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At the same time though, I wonder about this voting based on a candidates likeability. This was certainly a factor in the current president’s election into office. But how far has that gotten us? (no matter what side of the political spectrum you are, I think its safe to concede that the current administration has made some missteps).

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There are so many other thoughts, but they are still jumbled. It doesn’t matter though, I have a feeling that as time wears on, (or at least after super Tuesday) we will be faced with our realities: the all but confirmed presidential candidates.

It would just be nice to believe that mudslinging is a thing of the past, not the future.